My list of quarterly goals and the reasons for them from January is here.
Area I: Reading
1) Read all the books I own that I haven't read yet.
January: No progress made.
February: No progress made.
March: No progress made.
2) Read at least one non-fiction book a month.
January: I read one memoir, Corrections in Ink, and one book on corruption in Los Angeles, Bad City.
February: I read Overdue, This Is Ear Hustle, and The 1619 Project.
March: I read Corpses, Coffins, and Crypts. I also read a YA non-fiction graphic novel in Spanish this month called Las mujeres muevan montañas, which was the perfect amount of challenge for my ability.
3) Finish reading all the Women's Prize for Fiction books.
January: I read A Spell of Winter.
February: I read May We Be Forgiven.
March: I read Fugitive Pieces and The Idea of Perfection.
4) Keep my reading spreadsheet up to date.
January: Done. Yay!
February: Done. Good on me!
March: Done!
Conclusion: I probably should start prioritizing reading the books on my bookshelves, but otherwise my reading goals are going great.
Area II: Connection
1) Send snail mail to D/M/K every month plus at least one other "just because" piece of mail to a random person I know
January: I sent six New Year's cards, including to D/M/K and four birthday cards in January.
February: I sent twenty-five Valentine's Day cards, including to D/M/K, two birthday cards, and one birthday package.
March: I sent fifteen St. Patrick's Day cards, including to D/K and I sent my mom the postcard I painted with Anne at the botanical gardens, one birthday card, and a jury questionnaire in March.
2) Post to my blog every day
January: Yes. I posted 49 times in January. I'm so sorry to my readers.
February: Yes. I posted 44 times in February. Again, I'm so sorry to all of you.
March: Yes. I posted 43 times in March. Once this blogging project is over, I guarantee I'll never post this many times ever again.
3) Text T/T/D/M every week
January: I missed M/D once, but got everyone else.
February: I missed M once, D twice, but got everyone else.
March: Complete!
Conclusion: This is fine. I'm glad I track this and I'm glad it's all going pretty well.
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| Atta Kwami, Some Other Time II, 2011, Acrylic on linen |
Area III: Post-pandemic reentry
1) Say yes to invitations to things, regardless of whether or not I want to go.
January: I did!
February: I tried. I did say no to a party.
March: Honestly, we didn't get many invitations. We did say yes to a birthday party, but we had to stay home because of weather.
2) Do at least one thing every week that is outside of my household, the public library, or the grocery store.
January: I think I did this. I mean, I counted "oil change" as a thing outside of my household, but I did do it. First week, I went to a house party. Second week, I visited some friends. Third week, I had book club. Fourth week, I did the oil change.
February: I did do something every week outside of my home. First week, I went to visit a friend at his house, second week I went to a dentist appointment and to the dog park. Third week, I went to the botanical gardens with Anne. Fourth week, I went to a birthday party for my niece and nephews and to visit a friend.
March: I think so? If you count trips to the dog park? First week, I had book club. Second week, I had my day out in Madison and went to visit a friend. Third week, I took Hannah to the dog park. Last week, we visited two separate people at their houses. That's a wrap.
3) Leave the state of Wisconsin at least twice. (Trips to Iowa don't count unless we're going there and we don't see any of my in-laws.)
January: We went to Iowa twice to get furniture, but that doesn't count.
February: We went to Iowa once, but that doesn't count!
March: I did not leave Wisconsin at all.
Conclusion: How did I ever think I was going to leave Wisconsin for fun things in winter? Weird. That was a goal-setting failure. But I'm making progress here. I'm not back to my footloose and fancy-free ways of pre-pandemic yet, but slow steps.
Area IV: Health
1) Do formal exercise sessions of 30 minutes or more 80% of the days of the year. That would be 292 days. Last year I did 291 days, so this is ambitious, but doable!
January: 27/31 (87.1%) days
February: 25/28 (89.3%) days
March: 25/31 (80.6%) days
Total: 77/90 (85.6%) days
2) Drink eight ounces of water before I eat anything in between meals.
January: I think I did this most of the time. I think it actually just cut snacking more than increasing my water intake.
February: Hm. I honestly have just stopped snacking because I don't want to deal with water. Is this good or bad? Interesting.
March: I really don't track this, so that's not a great sign. I honestly just don't snack between meals, so I think I do this.
3) Inspired by Lisa, go outside at least 23 minutes a day. This should be easy with the dog and all, but I'm going to track it and see how I do.
January: 31/31 days. There were a couple of really cold days when it was tight and was like 6 minutes morning walk, 10 minutes afternoon walk, and 8 minutes in the evening, but it got done!
February: 28/28 days. This was surprisingly easy, even with a cold, snowy month.
March: 31/31 days. Generally speaking, if you walk your dog regularly, I think you'll get this!
Conclusion: This is going well. I'm not as worried about my physical health as I am my mental health right now.
Area V: House
1) Paint the garage
Ha ha ha. Why was this on my Q1 list? It's winter!
2) Marie Kondo my closets
Ha ha ha. I didn't start this.
3) Go through every tote in the house and declutter
Ha ha ha. I didn't star this, either.
Conclusion: I obviously need to work on this.
Area VI: Hannah
1) Take her to the dog park at least once a month
January: I took her on 1/21.
February: I took her on 2/12.
March: I took her on 3/4 and 3/19.
2) Teach her at least three new tricks from the dog training book I have
Nope. :(
3) Work on Hannah's big fears: men and things with wheels
We're doing okay on this. We had to go through two men on either side of the riverwalk recently and she did okay. She did freak out when a bicycle went by us on a sidewalk and I didn't see it coming, so I couldn't distract her, but I think we're making a little progress. Having a reactive dog is sometimes challenging, but she's worth it.
We have also taken her to visit friends and I like that she does well at other people's houses in terms of greeting people politely, but excitedly, and then just laying down and being a good girl.
4) Track her walking
January:
I tracked 73.52 miles this month, which is an average of 2.37 miles a day. Our lowest day was a cold, snowy day when Hannah was unwilling to leave our block at .54 miles and our highest day was 3.67 miles. I feel really good about this. (Hannah is always offered three walks a day. Sometimes she just flat out refuses to leave the backyard. I only count it as a walk if we go more than a tenth of a mile.)
Number of Walks | Number of Days |
1 | 2 |
2 | 6 |
3 | 23 |
February:
I tracked 57.57 miles this month, which is an average of 2.06 miles a day. I think we're going to be right around 2 miles a day and that's what Hannah likes. Usually if we go over that by a lot, she's pretty lethargic the next day.
Number of Walks | Number of Days |
1 | 1 |
2 | 12 |
3 | 15 |
March:
Roughly 68.28 miles this month at an average of about 2.2 miles a day. I guess if Hannah is comfortable at about 2 miles a day, that's good enough for us!
Number of Walks | Number of Days |
1 | 1 |
2 | 15 |
3 | 15 |
In total we walked 199.37 miles in the first quarter, which is about 2.2 miles a day.
Conclusion: I obviously could be doing more, but dogs are always a work in progress. I'm pleased that she's feeling healthy and I'll have to focus on ramping up her training a little bit.
How are you goals going so far this year?
Great job with your reading goals! I have also had the "read a book a month from my shelf" goal (there is absolutely no way I could read all of the books on my shelf that I have not read yet) on my list for a few years and have failed miserably. I probably read 3-6 books from my shelf each year, but definitely not 12. So far this year, I am on track to do about the same, as I have read only one so far. I just think that since I got a Kindle, I rarely carry a hard book to work, as my commute is where I would normally read. I just have to sit down in the backyard purposefully from time to time in order to get more reading done, I guess.
ReplyDeleteYou saw my goals about purging, which is going well! I have even gotten a head start on some of my second quarter purge goals, which I am glad of, because once summer comes, I am definitely not going to want to sit inside and sort through piles of shoes. So I am trying to be realistic with my time!
I rarely buy physical books, so there aren't that many that I have to read. I just need to do it! If I buckle down, I think I can probably finish the ones I have by the end of the year. I usually have a physical book that I'm reading downstairs and my Kindle is upstairs and I read it in bed, so there's not really an excuse for me not to just grab things off my shelf.
DeleteYou are doing so much better at purging than I am. I think I'll probably go through those totes and decide not to throw anything away! Ha! We'll see!
Ooh somehow I missed your review of Bad City. I'm in the market for a new audio book and was trying to remember that one that I'd heard about last year on Sarah's Bookshelves. The nice thing about being late to the party is that the Libby hold time is only a few weeks, which should line up with my next road trip.
ReplyDeleteNot all goals need to be achieved...if the books on your shelves aren't calling to you, it's OK to keep them on the TBR.
Yes getting out of the house in winter is definitely ambitious. We got so lucky with the weather in February and then March was worse. I feel like the worst of it is finally behind us.
Bad City is really a compelling read. I'm not sure why I didn't hear more about that book last year. I am not sure if it would be a great audiobook, but I think it would sound a bit like a longform podcast.
DeleteI do think we're probably past the worst of winter weather. Now it's rain and mud season. *sigh* But summer will be here after that and it will all be worth it!
This is so fun to read. I love all your posts <3
ReplyDeleteThis made me laugh: "Hm. I honestly have just stopped snacking because I don't want to deal with water. Is this good or bad? Interesting."
I never used to snack and now I do all the time and it kinda drives me crazy because then I'm not as hungry at meal times. This is the exact thing I tell the kids...and now I'm doing it myself. Sigh.
We don't really keep snack food in our house, so I don't snack. I think it would be different if we had lots of delicious, tasty, easy to grab items to eat, but we just don't. If I want to eat something, I have to prepare something, and I'm unwilling to prepare something that isn't a full meal, so that's where we're at. (Okay, I do keep baby carrots, mini peppers, and fruit around as a snack, but that hardly counts, does it?) I imagine households with children must have more ready-to-eat snack food and I would be unable to restrain myself if it were in the house!
DeleteYou're doing great! I love always having a plethora of Engie posts to read, so don't apologize there! :) I think it's such a fun project and I'm impressed by how many times you have blogged so far in 2023!
ReplyDeleteWell, this is great feedback for me. I don't like the idea of cluttering up people's feeds, so I'm glad you like all the posts.
DeleteI think Hannah is at the point where she requires her own goal tracking posts. Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteAnd hey, despite my dismal track record at getting together post-botanical-gardens, I'm glad that trip helped you check off a few things!
I also like all of your posts - particularly the ones with Bestest Friend. It's fun to see what you come up with, every day, and then every month. Are you going to summarize the topics covered for each word at the end of the year? (I imagine you are tracking this in some way? Because you're you?)
Ohhh...I did not consider that people might be interested in what I'm going to do at the end of the year or how I'm organizing this. I shall write a post on it! I love it when people ask questions in the comments because it means I get to write posts!
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